While continuing to investigate how virtual learning can be an effective instructional model for all students especially for those who do not have the means to receive one-on-one instruction, a partnership was created with higher education colleges and an urban school district to offer a virtual after school and a professional development program to positively impact elementary students’ learning loss due to COVID titled EMT (Emotionally Mindful Teaching). The researchers have acquired many years in PreK-12 and Higher Ed and realized that many Teacher preparation programs and undergraduate students needed clinical hours but required alternative placements during the pandemic. As such, professors from local colleges were engaged to partner and select their honor undergrads and graduate students to become virtual tutors for this project. The program’s goal is to identify the skills students need to enable them to achieve successful outcomes that would help close the academic as well as support students’ emotional wellness gaps. The program included, but was not limited to, synchronous teacher-led lesson presentations, guided classwork, short response essays, student assessment and feedback and ofcourse, the use of technology. There were initiatives to plan to get the program up and running: contacting the higher ed partners, recruiting tutors, providing tutors with professional development regarding culturally responsive activities/lessons and sharing research about creating culturally responsive learning environments, creating viable schedules for tutors and individual students and coordinating the teachers classwork with the weekly academic work that had been initiated during PD with the teachers. Weekly meetings were held with teacher teams and higher education partners. Literacy activities were tailor made for individual students adhering to their weekly lesson activities. The program also provided a creative way for college students to satisfy their clinical hours and their participation provided them with an expansive experience that allowed them to bebetter equipped to teach in a virtual format. It was wonderful to partner colleges whose undergraduate students were tutors for the program and who were building relationships and providing academic assistance with the students’ assignments with the support of the researchers. Participants on various levels of the partnership demonstrated gains in academic learning, gaining confidence, building relationships and becoming better prepared to be successful in both brick and mortar and virtual settings.

Authors: Marlene M. Zakierski, Alice Siegel

Published in: Ireland International Conference on Education (IICE-2024)

• Date of Conference: 2-4 April, 2024
• DOI: 10.20533/IICE.2024.0027
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-70-9
• Conference Location: Dún Laoghaire, Ireland